Coline Ferrant
Education
- Ph.D. in Sociology, Northwestern University & Sciences Po (2015–2021) — Dissertation: “Food in the Lives of Paris and Chicago Residents”
- Visiting Student, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Summers 2017 & 2018, Spring 2019)
- M.A. summa cum laude in Sociology, Sciences Po, France (2013–2015) — Thesis: “L’alimentation dans la ville: inégalités, cohabitation, action publique locale”
- Student Affiliate, French National Institute for Agricultural Research (2014–2015)
- B.A. summa cum laude in Social Sciences, Sciences Po, France (2010–2013)
- Visiting Student, El Colegio de México (2012–2013)
Research Interests
- Urban and rural sociology; teaching and learning; public writing (social sciences and humanities); cultural sociology; ethnography.
Biography
Dr. Coline Ferrant has been Assistant Professor of Social Development and Policy at Habib University since 2022–23, and currently serves as Interim Faculty Director of the Office of Teaching & Learning (Spring 2026), having previously been the inaugural Director of Habib’s Dean’s Fellowship Program (Spring 2023–Fall 2025). Before Habib, she was Assistant Professor at the Technical School of Innovation, American University of Central Asia, and a Faculty Fellow with the Collaborative for Liberal Education for Adolescents, Open Society University Network (2021–22).
Dr. Ferrant completed her Ph.D. in Sociology jointly at Northwestern University and Sciences Po (2015–2021), with a dissertation on food practices among Paris and Chicago residents. Her research spans urban and rural sociology, cultural sociology, and ethnography, and she has been an investigator on projects examining social eating practices in Santiago and Paris, WIC program participation barriers in the US, electoral participation in Mexico and Central America, and Egyptians’ recollections of the 2011 revolution. She has a longstanding interest in writing for cultural, literary, and political magazines, largely Ibero-American, and continues to publish creative translations and essays alongside her academic work.
Selected Publications
- “Demografía y sociología: una perspectiva clásica,” Inventio, 18, 2022.
- “An Agentic Approach to Food Access and Acquisition: The Case of Mixed Neighborhoods in the Paris Metropolis,” City & Community, 21, 2022.
- “Social Varieties of Eating Out: Evidence from Santiago and Paris,” Food, Culture & Society, 27, 2024.
- “Les contradictions de l’action publique sur le commerce alimentaire dans un quartier gentrifié de Paris,” Pôle Sud, 55, 2021.
- Giacoman, C., Lhuissier, A., Ferrant, C., et al. “Meal Synchronization and Commensality in Santiago and Paris.” Appetite, 159, 2021.
- “Class, Culture, and Structure: Stratification and Mechanisms of Omnivorousness.” Sociology Compass, 12(7), 2018.
Honors & Awards
- Sociology Fieldwork Research Fellowship, Northwestern University (2020)
- Undergraduate Research Assistant Program Grant, Northwestern (2018–2019)
- Research Travel Grant, ECOS Sud (2017, 2018, 2019)
- Graduate Research Fellowship, French Ministry of Higher Education & Research (2015–2018)
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